Ecuador - August Reiger, 18, US student, Banos, 16 June 2013

[missgulfsouth]

There are usually three reasons for kidnappings in South/Central America: ransom, political leverage and prisoner exchange

As for whether or not August's family has money, keep in mind that if this is some cartel or paramilitary organization, chances are, the people who did the actual kidnapping (if that is what happened) are not very well educated. Americans and people of European descent are often assumed to be rich when traveling in South/Central American. Even middle class tourists are wealthier than most of the people in the countries they are visiting.

What political leverage could they possibly want to gain over the US at this time?
Who are we holding prisoner that they want to exchange for?
Is Equador a US enemy?
How many Americans have been kidnapped there in recent years, that weren't for money?

 

[necco]

What political leverage could they possibly want to gain over the US at this time?
Who are we holding prisoner that they want to exchange for?
Is Equador a US enemy?
How many Americans have been kidnapped there in recent years, that weren't for money?

It was a general comment about the nature of kidnappings in S/C America.

Groups like FARC will kidnap for leverage over their OWN government, not ours. Or for prisoner exchanges with their OWN government, not ours.

As for how many Americans have been kidnapped that weren't for money in South and Central America? I have no idea, but I suspect you can google as well as I can. I can think of a few where money was initially requested and then the group stopped negotiating, but I certainly don't know every case.

As for whether or not Ecuador is a US enemy, which is completely off-topic, not really, but they're not exactly our best buddy either, given the recent Assange/Snowden asylum issues.

 

[musicaljoke]

http://m.koco.com/news/officials-mi...dor/-/17423340/20704054/-/vg9t4o/-/index.html

He may have been spotted in the back of a truck.

 

[lucky181]

As for whether or not Ecuador is a US enemy, which is completely off-topic, not really, but they're not exactly our best buddy either, given the recent Assange/Snowden asylum issues.

The timing of August being declared a missing patriot a day after news comes out about Snowden wanting asylum in Ecuador just seems strange to me. It's probably nothing but the fact that I can't find anyone else labeled "missing patriot" is interesting.

I think the fact that there are no official statements from Ecuador makes for confusion. CNN Valencia tweeted on Sunday that the family was told he was kidnapped. The KOCO news report last night says officials say he wasn't kidnapped.

When did the source actually report the sighting in the truck? A lot of ground could be covered since last Wed.

 

[necco]

The timing of August being declared a missing patriot a day after news comes out about Snowden wanting asylum in Ecuador just seems strange to me. It's probably nothing but the fact that I can't find anyone else labeled "missing patriot" is interesting.

Oh, I think that was a deliberate act on the Obama administration's part to make sure that Ecuador cooperated fully on the case of August. They haven't even dubbed missing Peace Corps Volunteers "missing patriots"

 

[Tonto]

Still don't see how he could have been kidnapped on a 'one way in one way out' trail without someone noticing. Just sayin'

 

[missgulfsouth]

There are usually three reasons for kidnappings in South/Central America: ransom, political leverage and prisoner exchange

As for whether or not August's family has money, keep in mind that if this is some cartel or paramilitary organization, chances are, the people who did the actual kidnapping (if that is what happened) are not very well educated. Americans and people of European descent are often assumed to be rich when traveling in South/Central American. Even middle class tourists are wealthier than most of the people in the countries they are visiting.

It was a general comment about the nature of kidnappings in S/C America.

Groups like FARC will kidnap for leverage over their OWN government, not ours. Or for prisoner exchanges with their OWN government, not ours.

As for how many Americans have been kidnapped that weren't for money in South and Central America? I have no idea, but I suspect you can google as well as I can. I can think of a few where money was initially requested and then the group stopped negotiating, but I certainly don't know every case.

As for whether or not Ecuador is a US enemy, which is completely off-topic, not really, but they're not exactly our best buddy either, given the recent Assange/Snowden asylum issues.

I have no idea who FARC is, or why they would kidnap a US citizen for leverage over their government, but I am having a very hard time buying all of that in this case. It seems......far fetched. IMO

 

[necco]

I have no idea who FARC is, or why they would kidnap a US citizen for leverage over their government, but I am having a very hard time buying all of that in this case. It seems......far fetched. IMO

FARC is a Marxist-Leninist paramilitary organization in Colombia that has a presence in several other countries, including Panama and Ecuador. They and organizations like them tend to kidnap for financial reasons, but also do so to trade for members of their organizations that have been imprisoned. They have also been known to kidnap political candidates and government employees as "prisoners of war"

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a number of Marxist-Leninist organizations operating throughout Central/South America. FARC, ELN, Shining Path, etc.

I am, by no means, an expert on such groups, but I do have a rudimentary understanding of the politics and operation of such groups both in Central/South America and in Europe. (There are links between them, but they are far to complex for me to try and explain and I'd probably screw it up anyway.)

Now, if you look at the article about the oil guy from Tulsa, you'll notice he said that HE pushed for them to ask for ransom quickly. The group told him it could take up to a year. So, while I am not entirely convinced he HAS been kidnapped, I'm not surprised that if he has been that ransom hasn't been asked for yet.

 

[Janeumayer]

Read a few posts back that August scheduled the Amazon trip. I wonder if he had discussed with his parents that he wanted to go alone? Maybe he just left right after the hike so he could do the Amazon trip on his own?

This case is getting a little ridiculous. MOO

PS I just do not see it being an abduction. After watching so many videos of the town, it makes no sense. Most of the tourists go there for the healing springs coming from the volcano, so why would kidnappers go to that area for that purpose?

 

[Paul]

Still don't see how he could have been kidnapped on a 'one way in one way out' trail without someone noticing. Just sayin'

The trail on the 3-hour hike is visible to the town. But when you get to the top point of the hike, there is a big plateau up there, with small farm fields, a village called Runtun, a restaurant "Cafe del Cielo", a luxury hotel "Luna Runtun", and a road leading down to the next valley. So if you have a car or truck handy, you can just hop in and drive away.

Here's an angled view from Google Earth, I put in the red line to show the *approximate* path of the hike.

 

[necco]

The trail on the 3-hour hike is visible to the town. But when you get to the top point of the hike, there is a big plateau up there, with small farm fields, a village called Runtun, a restaurant "Cafe del Cielo", a luxury hotel "Luna Runtun", and a road leading down to the next valley. So if you have a car or truck handy, you can just hop in and drive away.

Here's an angled view from Google Earth, I put in the red line to show the *approximate* path of the hike.

Excellent map. There appears to be another trail going out the backside of the mountain.

 

[meanmaryjean]

This has shades of the missing couple last fall who were just out of facebook/ cell phone range while an international search was mounted. They were happily travelling the Amazon or something- unaware that their family thought them missing.

MOO and all that jazz...

 

[Elainera]

Exactly necco!

As for FARC, I don't think it's far fetched at all.

 

[Elainera]

From, Wikipedia:
Current estimates claim that the FARC presently have hundreds of hostages who are held for ransom.

The following list of former hostages are what the FARC called "canjeables" (exchangeable), as they offered their freedom in return for the liberty of 500 FARC members held in Colombian prisons through a prisoner exchange. The humanitarian exchange never happened. The FARC released their last political hostages in April 2012.

List of political hostages held by FARC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[lillygator]

I don't see this as an abduction either. I hope he is ok, but if...well, I hope these resources are not being wasted.

 

[lucky181]

FB page of newsman in OK. I won't quote directly but the family now is not sure if the previous sighting of August is true. He will have more info on the 10pm news.

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKonopasek?hc_location=stream

I think some of us were a little suspicious about the sighting in the truck so this isn't surprising. Crazy.

 

[beachlvr0810]

I just don't have a good feeling about this. If he fell off the side of the trail hard enough to knock the wind out of him, he would not have been able to yell for help. It bothers me that he may be down in a ravine or down in the deep brush and has died a slow, agonizing death. I pray he IS in somebody's truck heading for the Amazon!

 

[Paul]

Excellent map. There appears to be another trail going out the backside of the mountain.

Thank you! I finally found a photo of the road, this is from the hotel at the top, looking north-east. So it is a real road. And there are so many houses around, it's not wilderness, I don't see how anyone could get lost up there. It's a real mystery.

Original photo page: www.flickr.com/photos/shobeir/2685583550/

 

[missgulfsouth]

FARC is a Marxist-Leninist paramilitary organization in Colombia that has a presence in several other countries, including Panama and Ecuador. They and organizations like them tend to kidnap for financial reasons, but also do so to trade for members of their organizations that have been imprisoned. They have also been known to kidnap political candidates and government employees as "prisoners of war"

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a number of Marxist-Leninist organizations operating throughout Central/South America. FARC, ELN, Shining Path, etc.

I am, by no means, an expert on such groups, but I do have a rudimentary understanding of the politics and operation of such groups both in Central/South America and in Europe. (There are links between them, but they are far to complex for me to try and explain and I'd probably screw it up anyway.)

Now, if you look at the article about the oil guy from Tulsa, you'll notice he said that HE pushed for them to ask for ransom quickly. The group told him it could take up to a year. So, while I am not entirely convinced he HAS been kidnapped, I'm not surprised that if he has been that ransom hasn't been asked for yet.

The trail on the 3-hour hike is visible to the town. But when you get to the top point of the hike, there is a big plateau up there, with small farm fields, a village called Runtun, a restaurant "Cafe del Cielo", a luxury hotel "Luna Runtun", and a road leading down to the next valley. So if you have a car or truck handy, you can just hop in and drive away.

Here's an angled view from Google Earth, I put in the red line to show the *approximate* path of the hike.

This has shades of the missing couple last fall who were just out of facebook/ cell phone range while an international search was mounted. They were happily travelling the Amazon or something- unaware that their family thought them missing.

MOO and all that jazz...

Those were my exact thoughts, too. Except in this case, he would know that his family would be fearful and worried. I hope he hasn't faked an abduction, it really is a very selfish, albeit not uncommon, thing to do. My gut tells me he did, but I hope not.

 

[necco]

He had no money and no water.

At that elevation, someone hiking who was used to OKC's altitude would be SUCKING down water like it was going out of style.

He didn't just ditch his family. Not without water. Not without money.